


The World Will Always Welcome Lovers

by gemgirl28



Series: As Time Goes By [1]
Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Modern with Bending (Avatar), Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Coffee, Coffee Shops, F/M, Katara is a barista, Mutual Pining, Pining, Soulmate marks, Soulmate-Identifying Marks, Soulmates, Zuko has a caffeine addiction, because of course fluff, but also fluff, but like same, cause shes gotta make that money, he just wants his coffee, how many tropes can I fit in one story, rating is for mild swearing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-13
Updated: 2020-10-15
Packaged: 2021-03-07 22:48:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 9,207
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26995417
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gemgirl28/pseuds/gemgirl28
Summary: Katara's counting down the days till she can leave her part-time job as a barista as she finishes nursing school. Zuko just needs a caffeine fix before work everyday at his family's company. Neither are particularly thrilled to see each other, until they are.
Relationships: Katara/Zuko (Avatar)
Series: As Time Goes By [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1972411
Comments: 46
Kudos: 255





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> What happens when you combine a modern coffeeshop au with a soulmate au? This happens. I'm pretty sure I've read almost every complete coffeshop/teashop Zutara fic on here, so here is my humble contribution.

If it weren’t for the free coffee, Katara would never make it to work.

It was already a struggle for the waterbender to wake up, get dressed to a presentable level, and get to work before the sun was up. Combined with the fact that she had been up late studying for her first test (seriously, who gives a test the first full week of classes?!) and it was a miracle that she had made it to work on time.

Katara comforted herself as she made her free cup of coffee by remembering that she only had one semester left, and after that would be able to get a job using her nursing degree. She had already balanced going to school full time and working part time for the past year and a half, she could do it for five more months.

She sighed as she got the coffee shop ready for opening, pulling chairs off tables and wiping down the counter. At least she was closer to home now. This location was brand new, having only opened over the holiday break, and since it was equidistant to her home and the hospital where she did clinicals, Katara had jumped at the opportunity to transfer and cut 40 minutes of travel time out of her day. She was going to need every free moment to study this semester.

Katara unlocked the door a minute before opening to let her coworker in. She smiled at Haru in greeting as he went to grab his apron. Haru wasn’t much of a talker, which worked well since Katara wasn’t a morning person.

It was a Monday morning, so she expected the rush to pick up around seven. She worked on inventory while Haru fiddled with the merchandise display as they waited for the rush. Today was her second shift at the new location, so she wasn’t sure how busy it would actually get.

But sure enough, right around seven, a line started to form. Between the proximity to the hospital and financial district and the fact that it was a brand-new store, Katara wasn’t surprised. So she got to work filling orders while Haru ran the register.

Being a waterbender made working the line easier, and she was able to keep the line relatively short. Her manager often joked that if nursing didn’t work out, she’d always have a career making coffee. Katara always rolled her eyes at that. She’d much rather be working in a field where she felt like she was making a difference. Though, as she passed over a venti iced coffee with an extra shot to a woman who after the first sip looked significantly happier, Katara mused that sometimes she made a difference here as well.

By nine the line had dwindled to just two people and Haru took over making the drinks so Katara could have a break from bending. She did her best to smile at everyone that came in, though her own coffee was overdue for a refill.

And that’s how Katara ended up meeting _him._ She had just finished ringing up some college kid’s order (grande caramel frap and a warmed croissant) when she looked up into the most beautiful golden eyes she’d ever seen.

She wasn’t sure what had come over her, but she found herself transfixed by the man before her. He clearly worked in the financial district, if the tailored suit he was wearing was any indicator, though he barely looked older than her. She vaguely registered the scowl on his beautiful face, but was too busy studying his chiseled features and-

She took in a sharp breath. He had a scar over his left side that looked old. The clinical side of her wondered how it affected his vision. The emotional side of her wondered what kind of monster would do that to a person.

_A firebender, that’s who._

But with his porcelain skin and gold eyes, this guy had to be a firebender too, right?

Somehow Katara was able to go on autopilot and she heard herself asking, in her best customer service voice, “Good morning! What can I get for you today?”

“Grande Nitro Cold Brew.” His voice was raspy and she wondered if it was because of the early hour or if he always sounded like that. He was rather gruff though, and she found herself fighting a frown. Somehow that snapped her out of autopilot.

“Perfect, did you want a breakfast sandwich or pastry to go with that?” She flashed him her best “I’m being nice to you, be nice back” smile as she punched in his drink order.

“No,” he grunted out, already pulling out his phone to scan his app.

She clenched her jaw but kept a smile on. _Just one more semester of this_. She pressed the total button. “Alright that will be-”

“Five-sixty, yep, thanks,” he cut her off as he scanned his phone. She narrowed her eyes at him but kept her tone level. “Did you need a receipt today?”

“No.”

Thank goodness the register didn’t take forever to process. “Alright you’re all set, we’ll have that out in a few minutes.”

He walked to the end of the counter and stood there, playing on his phone, until Haru called out his order. Out of the corner of her eye she saw him chug half his coffee before storming out the door. Katara huffed at his rudeness, but couldn’t help from pushing up her sleeves and looking down at her soul mark.

It was the light half of a yin and yang symbol, or so she presumed, on the inside of her right wrist. But instead of a simple black dot in the white swirl, there were lines around the dot that looked like the sun. She worried that meant her soul mate was a firebender, and if that guy’s attitude was characteristic of all firebenders, she decided she’d rather stay single than meet her supposed “one and only”.

Not everyone got soul marks, but for those that did, they usually appeared when you turned eighteen. They were supposed to be a clue as to who your soul mate was, or what your relationship would be like, depending on who you asked. The problem was, they weren’t complete until you and your soul mate touched for the first time. Katara figured hers would fill in with the dark Yin if she ever met her soul mate.

She pulled her sleeve down and traded back with Haru since she was feeling grumpy about her soul mark. She had been dating Aang when hers came in, and he had been so sure they were soul mates. He tried to say the sun was because of his cheery attitude, and sometimes Katara was able to convince herself she believed him. He had been devastated when two years later his mark came in and it was the outer portion of the earth kingdom symbol. His heartbreak was eased though, when two weeks later he took Toph’s hand during her birthday party and his mark had filled in with three swirls of air. Toph hadn’t known she had Aang’s mark till he pointed it out to her. Toph’s mark was slightly raised, like a tattoo. Katara remembered watching Aang whisper to Toph, describing the colors of their intermingled symbols, as Toph ran her fingers over the mark.

Katara was happy for Aang and Toph. She had always felt, deep in her bones, that she wasn’t meant to be with Aang. That didn’t stop the pain of knowing she might not ever meet her soul mate. Sometimes Katara wondered if she even wanted to meet him. She didn’t know if she could trust anyone to look into her eyes and see every part of her and love her for it.

Sokka had gone through it twice. He had been elated when his mark came in two years early, half of the moon cycle, and Yue had the other half. Yue had immediately broken up with Hahn, and for a whole year Sokka was happier than he’d been since their mom died. When Yue was killed during a home invasion, Katara wasn’t sure Sokka would ever be the same. His moon cycle had faded from white and black to greys.

And yet, on his eighteenth birthday, he had gotten another mark on his other wrist. It was rare, but it seemed the spirits had taken pity on him and granted him another soul mate. Suki was perfect for her brother in so many ways, different ways from Yue. Katara knew Sokka still carried a lot of guilt from Yue’s death, but he was completely devoted to Suki. They made each other better people.

Katara sighed wistfully as she filled an order, counting down the minutes till the end of her shift. She liked the idea of being with someone who challenged her, made her better. But sometimes that sounded exhausting. She often wondered what authority the spirits really had to decide that two people, out of the billions of people on the planet, were really meant for each other.

As Katara clocked out and headed to campus for classes, she couldn’t help but touch her mark beneath her sweater and wondered if she would see the rude firebender again.

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

He did come in again. And again. And again. Actually he came in every weekday she worked. She suspected he came in every weekday, but she only worked three days through the week and then on the weekends.

He always ordered the same thing, unless he had enough points for a free drink, in which case he got the venti size. He was always short with her, always in a rush to get his coffee and go. She was tempted to tell him if he didn’t stop scowling his face would be like that forever, but she bit her tongue for the sake of tips. He toed the line between gruff and flat out rude. She felt like she was allowed to complain about his crankiness, but couldn’t justify tampering with his drink out of revenge. And in all the times he came in, he never touched her.

Despite his gruff attitude, she did start to notice little things about him that made her think maybe he wasn’t all terrible. He always held the door open for others, no matter how much of a rush he was in. He paid for a mom’s coffee when she couldn’t find her wallet and her toddler was screaming her head off. And he always tipped, either through the app or by dumping his change in the tip jar.

She learns his name when she’s working the line. Since he always paid through the app she never bothered to ask when it just prints out on the order sticker. This morning though, when she pulls a familiar drink and calls “Grande Nitro Cold Brew for- Zuko?” and he steps forward, she finds herself frozen again. Somehow she manages to push the drink across the counter and tell him “Have a great day!” He replies with a grunt and is out the door in the next moment.

_Zuko._

She thinks his name is perfect for him, short and harsh sounding, just like his attitude. But later, she finds herself thinking maybe it’s not such a bad name.

He proves to be a firebender when they get a snowstorm in late February. She watches as he creates a small flame for a kid to warm their hands over. He still orders a cold brew coffee, and she thinks he’s crazy.

She doesn’t go home for spring break, opting to work as much as she can to save up for an apartment and doing homework after work. She sees him every day she works, and on the fourth day he finally speaks to her, though with his usual rudeness.

“What are you doing here?”

She froze at the register, and had to fight from narrowing her eyes at him. “Excuse me?”

“I mean, you’re a student right? And it’s spring break?” he asked. She nodded, not sure where he was going with this. “So why are you here this week? Shouldn’t you be off, I don’t know, getting drunk on a beach or something?”

Katara simply stared at him for a few minutes before plastering her customer service smile back on. “Well, I’m not really one for getting drunk on beaches, but I need to save up for an apartment and get some homework done. And I certainly wouldn’t be able to do that if I was off partying somewhere.” She laughed, trying to lighten her mood and remind herself she only had a few months left of working there.

“Huh. Ok,” sas his only reply before he ordered his usual and was on his way.

The next day he asks her what she’s studying, and she blinks at him three times before she’s able to reply, “Nursing.” He nodded and took his drink from the counter.

Two weeks later, Haru points out that Zuko tips twice as much when she’s working. She rolls her eyes and pretends her stomach doesn’t flutter at the thought of why Zuko would do such a thing.

A week after that, he says her name for the first time. She had already started punching in his order when he got to the register but still asked, “Grande Nitro Cold Brew, right?”

He had given her a small smile and her heart had flipped. “Yeah, thanks Katara.” 

She met his gaze, trying to fight the flush from rising in her cheeks as she replayed the way her name sounded on his lips. She must have stared too long, because he was suddenly scowling again, and she huffed as she rang him up.

Since he’s always in a suit, she never sees his wrist, and she can’t help but wonder if he’s got a mark hidden beneath his layers.

(If he’s got _her_ mark.)

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Despite the late snowstorm, spring comes hot and heavy that year, almost feeling like summer. Katara normally wears long sleeves to work (in case she spills something, she doesn’t want to spend all day healing herself) but one day in early May she wakes up and feels like if she wears any more layers than necessary, she’s going to melt. She puts on a tank top, ties her hair up, and drags herself to work.

It’s the week between exams and graduation, and she’s only got two weeks of shifts left before she takes a week to move into her new apartment and then starts at the hospital. For some reason, she finds herself wanting to tell Zuko this, even though he only recently worked up to enunciating “Thank you,” instead of grunting it out every time.

It starts raining around eight, lightening the heaviness in the air, and Katara does her best to bend away the water customers trek in. But with the rush, she settles for pulling out a wet floor sign and dealing with it later.

The rain scares off some customers so by nine-thirty the shop is almost empty. Katara takes a sip of coffee before moving to clean the floors when Zuko comes in. Her stomach does a traitorous flip as she forces on a smile, taking his order and then filling it herself. He watches her get his coffee and steps forward to grab it before she can call his name. She’s still holding the cup when he reaches for it and softly says, “Thank you.” Their fingers brush as he takes the cup, and it suddenly feels like lightening is running through her veins. She gasps and looks up at Zuko, who looks as surprised as her. He stumbles back a little and slips in a small puddle by the counter, his coffee flying all over both of them.

“Oh my gosh I’m so sorry! Are you ok?” she exclaimed, quickly moving to bend the coffee out of their clothes. She grabbed another cup and filled it as he sat up.

He stood, wincing a little but nodded. “Yeah, sorry about your clothes…” he trailed off, realizing she had bent the coffee out of both of them. He blushed a little and ducked his head. She couldn’t help but think it was adorable.

“It’s ok, perks of being a waterbender, right? No stains for me,” she says, holding up her hands to demonstrate her clean clothes. His eyes widened and she realized he was looking at her wrist. _At her soul mark._

He reached out, his hand shaking, and grabbed her wrist, turning it so he could study her mark. She couldn’t move her eyes from his, those damn beautiful gold eyes, until he pushed up his sleeve and put his wrist beside hers. She tore her eyes to their wrists and gasped.

Her mark at filled in with Yin, like she suspected it would, but instead of a simple white dot, it had a texture like the moon. The darkness wasn’t solid black, but was dotted with little white specks. With stars, she realized. She felt frozen, completely unable to move, aside from her eyes drifting to his pale wrist. To the matching mark on his wrist.

_Oh fuck._

“It’s you,” he spoke first, his raspy voice breaking the spell.

“It’s me,” she whispered back, meeting his gaze again.

“Katara, can you hop on the register for a sec? I’m gonna run-” Haru started, but cut himself off when he realized what was happening. “Actually, on second thought, why don’t you take a break? I can cover your fifteen.”

Katara nodded mutely, and pulled her hand away from Zuko, already missing the loss of his touch. She hung up her apron and sat down at a table across from him. Her fingers grazed over her mark and she found herself blurting out the first thing that popped into her mind.

“I’m only working here for another two weeks.”

She immediately regretted it when his face fell, and she started rambling to try and fix it. “I mean, here, at the coffee shop, not here in the city. I graduate in a few days and at the end of the month I start at the hospital full time so I’m not going anywhere, I just won’t see you in the morning anymore, that’s all,” she bit her lip when she finished, hoping she didn’t scare him off with her word vomit. Could she do that? Scare off the one person the spirits deemed she was supposed to be with forever?

He fiddled with his drink and nodded. “I uh- I’m glad.” He cleared his throat and looked down at his lap. “I should probably apologize for how uh, gruff I’ve been these past few months, you know, considering...”

She narrowed her eyes at him. “You shouldn’t apologize because we’re soulmates, Zuko. You should only apologize if you recognize you’ve done something wrong and won’t do it again.”

He scowled at her a moment before his expression softened. “I’m sorry, you’re right. But I have been rude to you, and that’s not ok. It’s just… you’re really beautiful. And I’m always so nervous around you, that I end up putting up this stupid rough exterior as a self-defense mechanism, and then now we’re _soulmates,_ I just…” he took a deep breath and reached across the table to take her hand. “I’m sorry, please forgive me?”

She looked down at their hands and let her fingers intertwine with his before looking up. “I accept your apology, and I forgive you.”

He smiled, clearly relieved by her forgiveness, before he tensed up again. “So, where do we go from here?”

She gave him a soft smile, squeezing his hand. “Maybe you could start by asking me on a date?”

He looked surprised that she would suggest that. Spirits, they were soulmates and he was surprised she wanted to go out with him?

“Uhm, sure, yeah,” he cleared his throat, “Katara, would you like to go on a date with me?”

Her smile widened and she squeezed his hand. “Yes, as long as it’s not a coffee date.”

And when he laughed, a beautiful, honest laugh, she found herself believing.

Maybe the spirits did know what they were doing after all.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Zuko's POV!

Zuko had decided a long time ago that he could never tell his Uncle about his coffee addiction.

After all, the old man’s passion and life’s work was tea. His Uncle served every cup with love and a proverb that would take Zuko too long to understand. He would be absolutely devastated if he knew Zuko, someone he considered to be like a son, drank coffee regularly, let alone coffee from an overpriced chain shop. Iroh loved finding rare and unique tea blends, and found such coffee to be an insult to everything he stood for as a tea aficionado.

Zuko had quite a rebellious streak when he was a teenager, and coupled with his dad’s abuse, he ended up living with his Uncle for most of high school and throughout college. Zuko had worked in his Uncle’s tea shop after school to appease his Uncle. Once he started seeing a therapist, he kept working for Uncle as repayment for his Uncle taking him in. Though Iroh never saw it that way, Zuko would never stop working to make his Uncle proud.

But coffee was the one rebellion he held onto. It had started as a way to fight the effects of his insomnia while annoying his Uncle and turned into a full-blown addiction in college. Uncle had seemingly accepted the vice while Zuko was an overworked college student, but now that Zuko was on his own, he was under the impression that Zuko had switched entirely to tea for his caffeine fix. Zuko knew he’d be heartbroken if he ever found out Zuko still got coffee almost every day before work.

Still, the risk of Uncle’s disappointment couldn’t stop Zuko from heading to the newest location of his favorite chain on his way into work Monday morning. While Zuko absolutely had interns and a secretary that could get his coffee for him, he still felt weird asking for something as mundane as coffee from people that were his sister’s age. Or in the case of his secretary, his mother’s age. Really, he felt awkward asking anyone to do something that could remotely resemble a favor.

Zuko was excited for this new shop as it was directly on his way to work instead of fifteen minutes out of the way. He figured he’d be able to cut back on his travel time and still indulge in his coffee habit. But the universe had other plans, and he found himself running late that cold morning. Oh well _,_ he thought to himself, he could be late. After all, he was the CEO.

He was surprised the shop wasn’t packed by the time he arrived, but he figured he had just missed the morning rush. He pretended to scan the menu, even though he always got the same thing, and checked his email while he waited in line. After some kid’s obnoxious order (seriously, who wants a Frappuccino in _January_?!) he stepped up to order and found himself frozen, held captive by the most stunning blue eyes he’d ever seen.

Somehow he was able to register the features of the girl, and he felt his heart race as he realized she was just as beautiful as her eyes. She was wearing a University hoodie under her work apron, and her long, chocolate hair was pulled back into a ponytail. He found himself thinking that was probably practical for work, but he wondered what it would feel like to let it down and run his fingers through it. With her dark skin and the shape of her nose, she looked like she was from the Water Tribes. He wondered if she was a bender, though he remembered that waterbenders were extremely rare, no thanks to his family.

His eyes traced the curve of her smile, and he was dazzled by the sight of it. That is, until she spoke.

“Good morning! What can I get for you today?” her tone was overly perky and clearly fake. No one ever sounded that excited to take an order that meant it. Especially not on an overcast, cold Monday morning like today. He felt a scowl etch into his features.

“Grande Nitro Cold Brew,” he growled out. He had read somewhere that cold brew had more caffeine than regular brew. Since taking over the family company, his caffeine dependency had only increased.

“Perfect, did you want a breakfast sandwich or pastry to go with that?” the barista smiled at him, but he could see it didn’t quite reach her eyes. He had to fight from rolling his. When did everyone decide that perfect customer service meant over the top fake smiles? He’d rather her be honest. She had a crappy job taking orders from crappy people.

“No,” he grunted, already pulling out his phone to scan his app.

He kept his head down as he opened the app to the payment screen. “Alright that will be-”

“Five-sixty, yep, thanks,” he cut her off as he scanned his phone. He’d been ordering the same thing for months now, and he didn’t have time for chit chat.

“Did you need a receipt today?”

“No,” he said curtly. Her sugary sweet tone was grinding on his last nerve and all he wanted was his coffee.

“Alright you’re all set, we’ll have that out in a few minutes.”

He headed down to the counter, not bothering to reply, while he waited for his drink. He texted his secretary that he was running behind and counted down the seconds on his phone until he got his drink. When it came out he took a long sip (ok, a chug) before rushing out the door and away from those piercing blue eyes.

He hurried to his office and offered a small apology to his secretary for being late. She smiled and ran through his meetings for the day and handed him some documents to review. He nodded and closed the door to his office to try and knock his work out. He quickly discovered he couldn’t focus. His gaze kept drifting to his soul mark, and he finally allowed himself to push up his sleeve and look at his mark for a few moments.

Soul marks were pretty rare in his family. He knew his mom and stepdad shared marks, but she had been forced to marry Ozai for political gain anyways. Uncle and his wife had shared a mark, some flower that Uncle claimed made exceptional tea. Azula didn’t have a mark, something his father surely was proud of at one point. Ozai thought love was weakness, and having a soul mark meant having someone that could be used against you.

It didn’t help that Zuko’s mark had come in early, when he was just sixteen, nor that his mark appeared to be some sort of Water Tribe symbol. The dark curve of what he assumed was Yin was dotted with stars, and the white spot was colored like the moon. Ozai had been disappointed when Zuko had spoken against a plan for using slave labor and had burned him at just thirteen. That was the first time Zuko had gone to live with his Uncle, but had come back when he thought Ozai had forgiven him. Ozai was furious when Zuko got his mark, and this time Zuko had run away.

Zuko had spent much of his adolescent life feeling like he wasn’t worthy of having a soul mate. He was terrified of having to burden another person with his family’s trauma and history. Mai had been willing to ignore his mark, a mark that clearly wasn’t meant for her. For a while he let himself indulge in her company, selfishly taking the brand of love she was able to offer. But when her mark came in, they could no longer deny how poorly they fit together as a couple. He knew she was much happier with Ty Lee. He didn’t let himself imagine he could ever be that happy.

As his fingers traced the outline of his mark, his thoughts drifted back to the barista. He wondered again if she was a bender, and if she had a mark. He rolled his eyes, finally tucking his sleeve back and getting to work. Whoever was that girl’s soul mate would have to deal with over the top fake smiles, and Zuko let himself feel sorry for whoever that poor sap would be. After all, no one was really that nice.

\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Turns out, she really was that nice.

She worked Monday, Wednesday, and Friday mornings when he came in before work and always had a smile plastered on her face. At first he really believed she was just putting on a stupid front. He didn’t miss the way her jaw clenched when she responded to him. He recognized that her smile never quite reached her eyes when he was looking at her. He could hear the high fructose corn syrup sweet sugar in her tone when she asked his order, even though she absolutely knew he always got the same thing.

But over time he realized that maybe the fakeness was just for him. He pretended to play on his phone as he eavesdropped on her taking an order from a kid who couldn’t pronounce any of the coffees correctly and picked up on the genuine excitement in her tone after the kid told her she was pretty. He watched as she patted a woman’s hand and comforted her over school stress, the caring look in her eyes so warm he thought he’d explode. He heard how she laughed at bad jokes and teased back whenever that tall guy with the toothpick would flirt with her.

Zuko learned her name pretty early on when her coworker asked her a question while she was ringing him up. “Hey Katara, sorry, but do we have any more blueberry muffins left? This kid just took a bite of this guy’s before he could claim it as his.” She had simply nodded and grabbed a muffin out of the display while finishing up Zuko’s order, still smiling at him like she was one bad day away from snapping and killing everyone in the shop.

Katara. Katara. Katara. He played her name in his head over and over that day. Twice he had missed a question in a board meeting because he kept thinking about her name, how it was fitting for a pretty girl to have such a pretty name. _Katara_.

He discovers she is a waterbender when she’s working the line one day. He watches, struggling to keep his jaw from dropping, in awe as she bends his coffee into his cup while simultaneously filling a water reservoir. He rushes out of the shop before anyone can notice the blush creeping onto his cheeks.

The next time she’s working the line she says his name for the first time. She never bothered to ask at the register since it comes through the app. When she finishes his order she usually just looks at him and pushes his coffee in his direction. Today though between the register and pickup counter he gets sucked into a budget email chain so when he hears her call out, “Grande Nitro Cold Brew for- Zuko?” his head shoots up. On autopilot he steps forward to grab his drink, but his mind has gone blank save for the sound of his name on her lips. He barely registers her saying, “Have a great day!” as he turns and runs out the door, not trusting himself to meet her eyes after hearing her say his name.

He falls into a routine, expecting to see her Monday, Wednesdays, and Fridays before work. So he’s surprised to see her three days in a row in mid-March, and it takes seeing her the fourth day to realize it must be spring break for the University. Zuko didn’t understand why she would spend her spring break working, so he decided to ask.

“What are you doing here?”

He watches her freeze, and realizes this is the first time he’s said anything beyond the requirements of ordering coffee, and he immediately feels bad, but stands his ground. She cautiously asks, “Excuse me?”

“I mean, you’re a student right? And it’s spring break?” she nodded and he kept rambling, acutely aware of how much he was shoving his foot in his mouth. “So why are you here this week? Shouldn’t you be off, I don’t know, getting drunk on a beach or something?”

Katara stared at him for what felt like a few years but was just a few moments before plastering her customer service smile back on. “Well, I’m not really one for getting drunk on beaches, but I need to save up for an apartment and get some homework done. And I certainly wouldn’t be able to do that if I was off partying somewhere,” she laughed, a pretty laugh, but one he could tell was forced.

“Huh. Ok,” was the only thing he could say before blurting out his order and running.

It’s not until he gets to his office that he realizes talking about school could be a conversation starter. He doesn’t quite understand why, but he wants to get to know her better. The next day he shyly asks “So, what are you studying?” and she blinks at him three times before she flatly replies, “Nursing.” He has to fight from smacking his head with his palm, instead nodding and taking his drink. _Of course_ a girl like her wouldn’t be interested in starting a conversation with a guy like him. She probably wrote him off as “the rude guy” ages ago.

But he’s still got a masochistic streak, so he decides to try and correct her assumption of him. He focuses on scowling less and occasionally smiling more when he’s around her. He realizes one day he’s never said her name out loud, so he decides to try it. He can see her punching in his order but she still verifies, “Grande Nitro Cold Brew, right?”

He gives her his best “I’m trying to be better now” smile and says, “Yeah, thanks Katara.” 

She meets his gaze, and he’s certain he’s going to combust from the intensity in her stare. He feels stupid for trying, and can feel himself scowling again. He heard her let out a huff of annoyance as she finished ringing him up, the only time she’s let her annoyance with him slip through her perfect mask.

He ducks his head as he walks away, shame welling in his veins. He doesn’t want to stop trying though. He isn’t sure why, but he cares about what Katara thinks of him.

Even as the weather warms up, she always wears long sleeves, and he can’t help but wonder if she’s got a mark hidden beneath the sleeves of her sweaters.

(If she’s got _his_ mark.)

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Normally Zuko enjoys his walk to work. He doesn’t live far, and it gives him time to clear his head and mentally prepare for the day. On the days Katara is working, it gives him time to mentally prepare himself for facing her and then talk himself off a ledge if their interactions are less than stellar.

Today though, it starts raining as soon as he gets done with his morning workout. He hates walking in the rain.

He takes his time getting ready and then works on some emails from home, hoping the weather will let up. It’s Friday, and he doesn’t have any meetings till after lunch, but he really doesn’t like getting into the office after 10, so he finally gives in and grabs his umbrella.

By the time he reaches the coffee shop, it’s a little after 9:30. He’s surprised by how empty it is, though he figures the rain must have scared the usual crowds away. Despite the rain, he makes himself smile at Katara when she takes his order before moving to wait for his order. She’s wearing a tank top today, and he unwillingly traces his hand over his mark through his shirt, trying to see if he’ll catch hers.

He watches her bend his coffee into his cup and steps up to take his order. He whispers, “Thank you,” not realizing she’s still holding the cup. Their fingers brush as he takes his order, and suddenly it feels like when he’s redirected lightening, but a hundred times more intense. He looks up when Katara gasps, and registers the wave of shock on her face. He stumbles back from the intensity of it all and slips in a small puddle by the counter, his coffee spilling over both of him. He barely registers the pain from falling, still shocked from the feeling of their touch.

“Oh my gosh I’m so sorry! Are you ok?” she exclaimed.

He stood, wincing a little as the pain started throbbing but nodded. “Yeah, sorry about your clothes…” he trailed off, realizing she had bent the coffee out of both of them. He blushed a little and ducked his head. Of course she was one step ahead of him. Actually two steps, judging by the fresh coffee on the counter.

“It’s ok, perks of being a waterbender, right? No stains for me,” she says, holding up her hands but his eyes don’t make it past her wrist because she’s got a soul mark. A complete soul mark.

_She’s got his mark._

Inside he’s screaming, but on the outside he slowly reaches out and as gently as he can grabs her wrist, turning it so he could study the mark. There’s no mistaking it, there’s the familiar Yin shape with the moon and stars, but it’s got a Yang nestled together, and the black dot looks like a sun. He pushes up his sleeve and put his wrist beside hers. Sure enough, his mark has filled in with a Yang, no, her Yang. There’s no denying the symbols match.

He registers her strangled gasp and looks up at her. He’s sure her look of shock is mirrored on his own features.

“It’s you,” he whispers, very aware of how those words fail at conveying the emotions running through him.

“It’s me,” she whispered back, her too blue eyes locking on him. He’s not sure how long they stood there like that, him still holding her wrist and them both staring dumbly at each other before her coworker interrupted them.

“Katara, can you hop on the register for a sec? I’m gonna run-” he started, but cut himself off when he saw their marks. “Actually, on second thought, why don’t you take a break? I can cover your fifteen.”

He saw Katara nod and regretfully let go of her wrist when she pulled away. He took his fresh coffee and stumbled over to an empty table and waited for her to join him. His mind was racing, his heart was pounding, and for some stupid reason all he could think about was how he was going to have to lie about how he met his soul mate to his Uncle. He looked up when she sat across from him, still struggling to think of something to say, but she spoke up first.

“I’m only working here for another two weeks.”

He felt himself frowning before her words had truly sunk in. Two weeks? He finally realizes she’s his soul mate and she’s leaving in two weeks? But then she starts rambling, and he does his best to listen to what she’s saying. “I mean, here, at the coffee shop, not here in the city. I graduate in a few days and at the end of the month I start at the hospital full time so I’m not going anywhere, I just won’t see you in the morning anymore.”

He fiddled with his drink and nodded, relief washing through him. “I uh- I’m glad.” He cleared his throat and looked down at his lap, mentally steeling himself for what he was going to say next. “I should probably apologize for how uh, gruff I’ve been these past few months, you know, considering...”

He looked up at the harsh tone in her response. “You shouldn’t apologize because we’re soulmates, Zuko. You should only apologize if you recognize you’ve done something wrong and won’t do it again.”

He felt anger rising up in him but just as quickly it was gone, understanding the truth in her words. “I’m sorry, you’re right. But I have been rude to you, and that’s not ok. It’s just… you’re really beautiful. And I’m always so nervous around you, that I end up putting up this stupid rough exterior as a self-defense mechanism, and then now we’re _soulmates,_ I just…” he took a deep breath. He hadn’t been able to put it into words until they were spilling out of him but now that he said it aloud, he realized that all along, he had been afraid of her. He felt like a stupid teenager with no control of their emotions. Taking a risk, he reached across the table and held her hand. “I’m sorry, please forgive me?”

She looked down at their hands and he felt himself relax a little when she let her fingers intertwine with his. “I accept your apology, and I forgive you.”

He smiled, another wave of relief washing over him before his nerves kicked in again. “So, where do we go from here?”

She smiled at him and he was sure his heart stopped. “Maybe you could start by asking me on a date?”

His mind shut down with panic, already overthinking every detail of a night out with her, but he managed to pull himself out of his spiral before it got too far.

“Uhm, sure, yeah,” he cleared his throat, “Katara, would you like to go on a date with me?”

Her smile widened and she squeezed his hand, restarting his heart. “Yes, as long as it’s not a coffee date.”

He laughed, and the smile she gave him made him realize that maybe he wasn’t worthy of having a soul mate, at least not right now.

But for her smile? He could become worthy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I love reading all your comments and do my best to always respond to them!


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> An epilogue of sorts

Fortunately for Zuko, it takes six months of dating before he has to worry about lying to his Uncle about how he met Katara.

Unfortunately, it takes their first fight (and a big knockout, drag-out one at that) to get them to the point where their ready to meet each other’s family.

Fortunately for Zuko, Katara washes away all of his fears and insecurities about his family, healing him in ways he didn’t realize still hurt. (But of course she does, she’s his soul mate).

Unfortunately, because of the fight he forgets to come up with a cover story for how he met Katara that doesn’t involve chain-shop coffee.

When they started dating, they both agreed it would be best if they kept their relationship private. She was just starting at the hospital, he wasn’t sure how to navigate a relationship after being single for five years, and they both agreed that their loved ones were too nosy for their own good. Plus, it was nice to have a little bubble, a space and time where it was just him and Katara.

He fell in love with her easily. How could he not? After all, not only was she gorgeous, but she was also kind, intelligent, and fierce. He doesn’t’ say it though until their fight.

Apparently her brother was pushy about meeting him, and Katara was reaching a point where she thought it would be easier to introduce everyone rather than having to keep evading questions and listening to her brother say things like, “I don’t care if the spirits think he’s your soul mate, as your wise, older brother _I_ should get final say on who you date.” Katara had spent 10 minutes calling out his hypocrisy, which Zuko found amusing, but still, it was starting to wear on her.

Zuko was afraid though. He was certain that having Katara meet his Uncle would open the door to his past, to the broken parts of his family, and that was a door he wanted to keep closed for as long as possible. Then again, Zuko rarely got what he wanted.

“Do you have any plans for dinner Sunday night?” she innocently asked one night after work. They were cuddled up on her couch, eating take out and bingeing some reality show.

“No, I don’t think so,” he said, stroking her hair. He would later blame their closeness on his slip up. But how could he think straight when the most piercing blue eyes and the most kissable lips were mere inches away?

“Do you want to come over? I’m making dumplings from scratch.”

He hummed, mouth already watering at the thought of her homemade dumplings, before he remembered-

“Aren’t Sunday nights family dinner nights?”

At least she had the decency to look a little ashamed. “Yes,” she meekly offered.

He frowned, not thrilled at the idea of Katara trying to trick him into meeting her family. “I mean, do you think we’re ready to meet each other’s families?”

She had narrowed her eyes, and in a measured tone replied, “ _I’m_ ready to meet the people that helped shape my _soul mate_ into the person he is. Are you?”

It had escalated from there, but after an hour of shouting, his history with his dad came out and Katara had held him, crying with him, as he described the pain of the burn on his face, how it was nothing compared to the pain of losing his mother and knowing he would never measure up in his father’s eyes.

She had looked into his eyes, into his soul, and held his scarred cheek. She had whispered, “From what you’ve told me, Zuko, Iroh has been more of a father than that _monster_ has ever been. _Iroh_ is the family I want to meet.”

And somehow, seeing her furious rage simmering beneath the surface, her anger at Ozai for simply hurting _him,_ had done more for his healing than therapy had in a while.

Katara had suddenly looked scared, and had quietly asked, “Did you not want me to meet Iroh because… he’ll think I’m not good enough for you?”

The tension was full of her unspoken question. _Do you think I’m not good enough for you?_

It absolutely broke his heart, and he found the words coming from his mouth before he could stop them. “Of course not. He’ll see how much I love you and fall in love with you, too.”

She had stared at him for a moment, an unreadable expression on her features, before asking, “You love me?”

He had laughed, because it was so damn funny that she couldn’t see how head over heels in love with her he was. “Yes, Katara, I love you. Not because the Spirits think I’m supposed to be with you forever, but because you’re amazing. You’re you.”

She had smiled, her bright, beautiful, warm smile, and said, “Good. Because I love you too.”

So he agreed to family dinner night, which was really a loose term for “anyone that was important to Katara and Sokka.” He was so nervous he thought he was going to throw up, but somehow he managed a firm handshake with both her dad and her brother, he bowed to her Gran Gran and GrandPakku (as Sokka called him) without falling over, was able to return Aang’s hug (no matter how awkward it was), and didn’t fall over when Toph punched his arm. Suki even gave him a sympathetic smile after Gran Gran asked if he was going to pass out, and Katara scolded everyone for being awkward. After that, family dinner nights became routine for him.

He had been so caught up in preparing to meet her family, he forgot to come up with a backstory for how he met Katara. So when they had dinner with Iroh a few nights after meeting her family, and Iroh casually asked, “So my dear, tell me, how did you and my nephew meet?” Zuko’s blood ran cold. Since Katara had no reason to know otherwise, she had told him the full story, about how grumpy and rude Zuko was in the beginning, but how he had slowly warmed up to her, until they accidently touched and discovered their soul marks. Zuko had bashfully watched Iroh’s expressions run from disappointment to humor and everything in between.

When Katara finished telling the story, an awkward silence fell over the table. Katara had looked up at him, worry writing into her features, and asked, “is there something wrong with our story? I mean, you were pretty grumpy at first, but I still think it’s kind of cute.”

Iroh had started laughing, breaking the tension. When he finally calmed down, he wiped his eyes and explained to Katara, “My nephew is just worried I’m disappointed that he did not give up his coffee habit like he told me he did two years ago. I mean, tea is a far superior drink with many more benefits, and I just worry about his health. However,” Iroh turned to face Zuko, “I can’t really be upset, can I? Since your addiction led you to your soul mate. Just promise me you’ll work on cutting back now.”

Zuko had mutely nodded, only reassured by Katara squeezing his thigh.

He didn’t really cut back on chain shop coffee until Katara moved in with him when her lease was up. She joked that he only wanted her to move in so she could make coffee for him, but they both knew that wasn’t the truth.

He asked for Hakoda and Sokka’s blessing a year later. They both laughed at him, but said they appreciated the thought. “After all,” Sokka reminded him, “It’s really not up to us. It’s not even up to the Spirits. Katara’s always going to do what Katara thinks is best.”

He had the ring for two months, struggling to come up with a way to propose, before seeing an ad online that gave him the idea. Sokka thought it was silly but Suki sad it was just the right amount of “dorky humor that you guys are into, it’s perfect,” so he went for it.

He woke up early one day and made a huge stack of chocolate chip pancakes. He poured a cup of coffee in the mug (that he had delivered to his office so Katara didn’t accidentally see it) and added more creamer and sugar than he could ever stomach. He carefully brought the tray into their bedroom. He gently kissed her forehead, her nose, her lips, whispering, “good morning, love,” in between kisses. Her eyes fluttered open, and she rubbed the grit away with the heel of her hand. “’S morning,” she mumbled back, smiling when she recognized the smell of pancakes. He passed the tray to her and sat on the bed beside her.

Katara was beautiful when she threw her hair up and wore her scrubs to work. She was beautiful when she dressed up for their date nights or his work galas or their friend’s weddings. She was beautiful when she wore jeans and a blouse when they ran errands together.

But in their bed, her hair a wild mane, his old school shirt hanging off her shoulders, half-awake as she yawned? She was gorgeous.

He waited, trying not to give anything away, as she sipped her coffee. “Breakfast in bed? What’s the special occasion?” she asked before digging into her pancakes.

He let out a chuckle to try and hide his nerves. “Why does there have to be a special occasion for me to make breakfast in bed for you? Can’t I just do something nice for the love of my life?”

She raised an eyebrow at him, clearly in disbelief. “You do nice things for me all the time. They’ve just never been breakfast in bed for no reason.”

He smiled and kissed her forehead, shrugging it off and sipping his own coffee to avoid the question. It took half her cup of coffee before she looked down at her mug in suspicion. “Does this ring make me look engaged?” She read out loud, “Zuko, where did we get this? Did Suki leave it…” but she trailed off as she looked down to where he had moved, on one knee.

“Katara,” he began, opening the ring box, “I love you so much. You make me want to be a better man, and I thank the Spirits every day that they decided to give us soul marks. Will you-”

“YES!” she cut him off, but clapped a hand over her mouth and mumbled, “sorry, go ahead,” through her hand. He smiled, the nerves still making his hands shake.

“Katara, my moon and my stars, will you marry me?”

“YES!” She carefully set aside the tray before leaping on him, kissing him hard and fast. “Yes, Zuko, my sun, of course I’ll marry you!”

She insisted on brushing her hair and putting on a little makeup before taking pictures with the ring and the mug. She shared the picture with the caption, “ _Our story began in a coffee shop, and it continues with a cup of coffee. So excited for the next chapter with my soul mate!”_

Iroh insisted on having the engagement party on the rooftop of the tea shop. Zuko was certain that was at least 50% because he wanted Zuko to switch entirely to tea, but with Katara laughing under the string lights at whatever bad joke Sokka made, he didn’t really care.

They stole away for a few minutes to the garden behind the shop in the middle of the party. She teased him for asking for Sokka and Hakoda’s blessing when they already had the Spirits blessings.

“I know, I know,” he began, smiling down at her, “but I still thought it was important. They are important to you, and you’re important to me.”

“I should hope so, I mean, we _are_ soul mates,” she said, a mischievous glint in her eyes.

He stopped and held her, one hand on her waist and the other cupping her face. “I like to think, even if we didn’t have our marks, that we still would have wound up together. I can’t imagine my life without you. I guess… I wanted to propose to show that this is _our_ choice. Spirits or not, I love you.”

Her smile had softened, and she gently cupped the scarred side of his face. He let himself lean into her touch.

“I like that. It’s my choice to love you,” she tested words, smiling at the sound of it. “I love you, my sun.”

He leaned down and kissed her gently.

“And I love you, my moon.”

**Author's Note:**

> I love any and all feedback and comments! Also, come say hi on tumblr @gemgirl28


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